Sephardic Desserts For Passover

Joan Nathan of the New York Times talks to Ana Benarroch de Bensadón, author of a cookbook of Sephardic dessert recipes. After Spain expelled its Jews in 1492, her family lived for centuries in Tangiers; she moved to Madrid with her husband in the 1960s after political instability in Morocco, and brought with her dishes that had all but been forgotten in Spain over the last 500 years, notable for how they combine their Jewish, Spanish and North African roots while still keeping kosher:

No dish is as Spanish as a creamy flan. But hers is made with oranges, almonds and sugar, with no cream or condensed milk that would keep it from sharing a kosher table with meat dishes. Dishes like these were also cooked by Jews who stayed in Spain after the expulsion and pretended to convert to Christianity.

“To prove that they were like Christians, the Jews made flans, but used orange juice, sugar water and almonds so they could eat the flan with a meat meal,” she said.

The piece includes recipes for her orange-almond flan, chocolate olive oil mousse, and almond-lemon macaroons; all the recipes involve eggs, so they're not vegan, but the lack of milk and cream makes them good options for the lactose intolerant. I eat everything and don't need to keep kosher, but I might just try these making some of these anyway, they just sound so delicious.